


Where the Water Meets the Sand

by kyaasnow



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Feat. Makkachin and Vicchan, Fluff, M/M, very minor angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 20:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14576994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyaasnow/pseuds/kyaasnow
Summary: *Written for Fair Winds and Following Seas, a YOI nautical zine.It had only been a couple weeks since they'd gotten together, and already Yuuri hated waking up without the weight of an arm across his middle, without Viktor's breath against his neck, without turning over and receiving a kiss before he could even open his eyes.





	Where the Water Meets the Sand

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! The piece I wrote that was included with the Fair Winds and Following Seas zine. If you got the zine, I hope you loved all the art and writing! I'm so incredibly proud and grateful to have been part of such a beautiful project. You can visit the zine's [Tumblr](https://yoinauticalzine.tumblr.com/) to read about the amazing donation we were able to make to the Coral Reef Alliance. They are also sharing everyone's completed pieces on their social media, so if you were unable to get the zine, be sure to check it out. Everything — literally everything — is absolutely gorgeous.
> 
> And this is my contribution! Hope you enjoy some seaside fluff.
> 
> P.S. I'm on Twitter as kyaa_snow and Tumblr as kyaasnow.

Yuuri could tell the bed was empty before he opened his eyes.  It was cold, for one. He had never thought his bed could be cold until Viktor began sleeping in it.  Two warm bodies, curled together, snoozing lazily in the warmth of the sun beaming through the apartment's picture window.  It had only been a couple weeks since they'd gotten together, and already Yuuri hated waking up without the weight of an arm across his middle, without Viktor's breath against his neck, without turning over and receiving a kiss before he could even open his eyes.

Gathering courage, he peeled open one eye to check the time on his bedside clock.  Seven a.m., and his one day off. So what exactly was he doing awake?

Soft opera floating from the kitchen area answered the question.

Smiling, Yuuri rolled onto his back and stretched languidly.  The sheets on Viktor's side ( _Viktor's side_ —he'd really been in Yuuri's life so long that he had his own _side of the bed_?) were certainly cold, so he must have been up quite early.  Of course he would.

One of the dogs barked.  Vicchan, if the higher pitch was anything to go by.  Makkachin echoed, followed by a quiet hush from Viktor.  "You'll wake your papa," he murmured.

For a moment, Yuuri imagined Viktor was saying this to Makkachin, too, and his heart soared.  _Rein it in_ , he told himself.  His time with Viktor was temporary.  Tomorrow morning, Viktor would be headed back home, to the organization's headquarters in Geneva.  And Yuuri would still be here, at the sea, a lonely dolphin conservationist, alone in this studio apartment on the shore.  Sure, he had the crew. Phichit and Takeshi and Yuuko and the others. But, well. He wanted Viktor.

The bed sank next to him, and he tried to hide a smile as Viktor nosed along his cheek.

"Wake up, my sleeping beauty," Viktor whispered against his skin.

Yuuri let his smile creep out, but kept his eyes closed.

"Yuuuuuri.  You're awake, aren't you?"

Yuuri buried his face further into the pillow.  At this, Viktor huffed. His warm breath on the corner of Yuuri's jaw sent a shiver through him.

"Come on," Viktor whined – which may have been annoying coming from anyone else but Viktor Nikiforov.

It made Yuuri want to laugh every time.  He had spent so much time picturing the organization's CFO as some stoic, stuffy man who wouldn't want to get his toes wet in the ocean that it was endlessly shocking how... open, how warm and childish Viktor actually was.  Viktor, who had shown up at the lab with his dog in tow (Yuuri _still_ didn't know how he'd been able to bring his dog into the country), bright grin spread across his face, asking when they were going to set out to meet the animals they studied.  Viktor, who kissed him for the first time on the docks in the morning, an hour before everyone else appeared.

"Please, get up," Viktor said.  He kissed the edge of Yuuri's smile.  His lips were so impossibly soft that Yuuri tilted up for another, proper kiss.  Viktor obliged.

"It's my day off," Yuuri murmured at last, voice croaking due to the early hour.  "Why do I need to get up now?"

"Because."  Viktor rested half his weight on Yuuri.  A pleasant sensation. "I want to do stuff with you.  You _never_ get a day off."

"I know," Yuuri grumbled, momentarily forgetting he was speaking to an executive staff member.  It was too easy to forget who Viktor was when he was wrapped up in Yuuri's bed, kissing his way along his neck.

"So get up."  His weight left the bed all too quickly for Yuuri's liking.  "I made breakfast. Russian breakfast! I even found sausage like the kind we use back home.  I went to so many stores. Yuuriiiii~”

“Okay, okay,” Yuuri said through laughter.  “I’m getting up.”

One last kiss on the cheek, and Viktor left him to his devices.

Yuuri wrapped a loose bedsheet around his waist as he rummaged through his drawers for a pair of shorts — still awkward about having his junk waving around in front of the dogs.  Of course, Viktor had more than once proclaimed his approval of Yuuri wandering around completely naked. (He’d had his wish granted last week when Yuuko apologetically asked if the two of them would mind lending their dogs for a night. The triplets loved the poodles and wanted them to sleep over.  That had been a good night for Viktor and Yuuri.) But at the moment, Viktor was preoccupied with setting up the table in the breakfast nook to care whether or not Yuuri was dressed.

“Quite the spread,” he said once he joined Viktor and the dogs at the small table.  “Rye bread and sausage?”

Viktor was practically buzzing in his seat as he gestured for Yuuri to sit down.  The tea set sitting elegantly in the center of the table did not look familiar. He didn’t put it past Viktor to go out and purchase one specifically for such an occasion.

With a flourish, Viktor poured out a cup of tea for Yuuri and, before Yuuri could protest, dropped a glob of jam into the mug.

“You really are going to convert me, aren’t you?” Yuuri said glumly.

“Opening your eyes, love.  That’s what I’m doing.” Viktor beamed as he desecrated his own tea.

(To be honest, jam in tea tasted a lot better than Yuuri had expected the first time.  But he indulged Viktor so much he h _ad_ to hold something back.)

“So what is the plan for today?” Yuuri asked as they dug in.  Makkachin had curled up on top of Yuuri’s feet. He wiggled his toes into her fur as he cleared his throat to add, “It’s our last day together so… we can do whatever you want.”

One corner of Viktor’s mouth turned down.  It was a quick movement, almost unnoticeable. But Yuuri knew him too well.

“Right,” Viktor murmured.  “Our last day.”

“Yes.”  Yuuri tore at his slice of bread.  “Since you, uh, go back to Switzerland tomorrow.”

Viktor hummed.  It wasn’t reassuring.

Yuuri had known better than to get too attached.  In fact, he’d spent the first week of Viktor’s visit avoiding the man.  Well, at least after he’d learned that Viktor had, in fact, been flirting.  Yuuri wasn’t too good at the whole flirting thing.

His entire relationship with Viktor had him pulled in several different directions at once.  Half of him had fallen so hard — hard like propelling straight into a rock. (If he were honest with himself, his entire being was hopelessly lost in Viktor.)  And the other half of him had him keeping Viktor at arm’s length. Refusing to get attached to someone who was going to leave.

At the same time, he believed both that Viktor was just having this fling and would never think of him again, and that Viktor was just as enamored by Yuuri as he was of him and their parting would hurt just as much on his side.

He didn’t want to think about this right now.

“We should get ice cream,” Viktor said suddenly.

“Okay,” Yuuri agreed.  “So what do you want to do after breakfast?”

“I meant ice cream _after_ breakfast.”

He narrowed his eyes.  “Viktor, we can’t have ice cream right after breakfast.”

“Of course we can.  We’re adults.”

“Hm.”  Resting his chin in his hand, Yuuri gazed out the window.

Back when he’d first moved into this apartment, he’d been thrilled at the view.  Just a short walk away from the beach, his home looked out onto the ocean. If he went up to the building’s rooftop patio on a quiet day, he could hear the waves rolling in.  Even now, as he watched, he could hear it in his mind. It used to be beautiful. Relaxing. A reminder of his passion, and why he was here — the ocean and the animals living in it that he wanted to protect.  Sometimes he even pretended he could tell Nala’s dorsal fin from her son Turk’s way out from the coast. (It wasn’t too far of a reach. On close inspection, Nala had a small cut on hers, courtesy of some good ole ocean pollution.)

But now, it just looked like vast loneliness.  Like the very thing he and Viktor had in common, yet the one thing that separated them.

“Well,” Yuuri said, dropping the tenor of his voice to cover up the quiver.  “There’s another thing we can do. As adults.”

He slid his bare foot against Viktor’s and was rewarded with a bright blush.

“O-oh?” Viktor stammered.

With a smirk that he hoped looked more confident than he felt, Yuuri glided out of his seat and bent over Viktor.  He moved close, close enough that their lips barely brushed when he whispered, “Put the dogs in the laundry room and I’ll show you.”

Viktor laughed, but it came out as barely a breath.  “My shy love.”

It was Yuuri’s turn to go red as he went to wait for Viktor on the bed.

**

One pleasant round and a shower later, the two of them set out on the town with Makkachin and Vicchan in tow.  It wasn't a large town. More of a distant suburb to the city further down the coast, but that was what made it the perfect place the centralize their research.  The town boasted several coastal apartment buildings, one hotel, several bed and breakfasts, and, further inland, airy houses. Everything else was recreational. Yuuri had never before lived in a place that so loved the outdoors.  Even the library had a patio and a park.

They visited there first, where Yuuri returned the DVD they'd borrowed over the weekend.  Outside, where they sat to read through the latest _Anthropocene_ issue, the sky was nearly as blue as the sea.  Yuuri sort of hated it for being so bright and beautiful on a day where he felt more like a squall inside.  He was going to lose the love of his life in the morning, and the weather had the nerve to be cheerful about it?

The cheery sky didn't let up once as they left the library and went, finally, to Viktor's favorite ice cream place on the pier.  Viktor ordered a turtle sundae, as usual, and whined at Yuuri for getting mango shaved ice, as usual. They sat on the bench at the farthest end of the dock to listen to the water, as usual.

As usual, as usual.  It was too normal. Yuuri had already gotten used to it.  Screw it all, he'd let Viktor into too many corners of his life, let him take up too much space, and he didn't know how he was going to breathe again after Viktor left.

"You're quiet today, Yuuri," Viktor murmured.  "Normally you'd be telling me what our dolphins should be doing at this time of day."

"Oh."  Yuuri stared at the water.  So many, many miles between him and Viktor.  "I guess, for once, I'm not thinking about them."

"Hm."  Viktor knocked his knee against his.  "What are you thinking about?"

Yuuri shrugged.  Viktor did not relent, though, and instead leaned in, nudging at Yuuri's cheek with his nose.

"Did I distract you too much this morning?" Viktor said against his skin.

"If anyone distracted anyone, it was I who scrambled your brain."  Yuuri swallowed back his fear and turned to press his lips against the corner of Viktor's jaw.

They sat this way for a few moments, during which Yuuri closed his eyes and pretended they could stay this way forever.

**

The sun was hanging low in the sky by the time the dogs tired out and Viktor announced that it was time for dinner.

"Okay," Yuuri said.  "Cooking at home or going out?"

"Actually, neither."  Viktor tossed his hair and winked.  "I have a surprise for you."

The way he sang it made Yuuri nervous (Viktor's surprises could go extreme both ways) but he still took Viktor's hand and allowed himself to be guided down to a more secluded area of the beach.  It took him a moment before he realized they were headed toward a table set up just shy of where the water met the sand.

“Viktor?”

The man in question said nothing as they continued forward.

The table was set simply — a bowl of katsudon at each setting, a bottle of wine and two glasses, several sides in the center.  Yuuri stared speechlessly as Viktor let the dogs off their leashes.

“Viktor,” he stammered.  “How did you even—”

“You might not want to ask.”  Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s waist and kissed his neck.  “I just wanted to do something special. Do you like it?”

Yuuri squirmed.  “It’s completely cheesy.”

“I am also cheesy!”

Yuuri couldn’t argue with that.

“Viktor.”  He stepped out of Viktor’s arms.  Replaced their weight with his own around his middle.  His shoulders hunched. Here he was, coiling in on himself like before.  As if it would keep anything from hurting him. “You didn’t have to do all this.  You leave tomorrow and…”

“That’s why I had to do this.  Yuuri.” He stepped forward, but halted when Yuuri moved back.  Sighing heavily, Viktor jerked a hand through his hair. “Yuuri that’s exactly it.  I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave you. Or Vicchan. Or this place. I want to be with you forever.”

“Forever?  We’ve only been together a few weeks.”

“I know.”  Carefully, Viktor moved forward again.  “But I’ve never adored anyone like I adore you.  And I want to keep you for as long as I can.”

It was surreal.  As if Viktor had reached into Yuuri’s brain and spilled out every word that had been stuck in there.

“But our jobs,” Yuuri said before he could stop himself.  “You need to be at headquarters in Geneva.”

Viktor shook his head.  “I’ve been speaking to Christophe back in Switzerland and proposed an idea.  The board voted on it yesterday.”

“Voted on what?”

“On executive leadership on-site.”  Viktor took advantage of Yuuri’s speechlessness to move in and take his hands.  They were shaking. “We work on Geneva, so far from where most of our work is done.  Yuuri, until I came here and met you, I’d never been so involved with the animals we protect.  I’d never been out on a boat and kissed a dolphin’s face. I’d never seen one give birth. I’d never.. I’d never met anyone who loved the ocean as much as you do.”

Yuuri’s face burned.

“I told them we can’t truly be involved with our work unless we’re in it.”  Viktor stared down at their joined hands. “And… well, I don’t want to be doing anything else than what I’ve been doing with you this whole time.  You _and_ the rest of the team.  So, our first satellite office will be here!”

“What?”

“Here,” Viktor exclaimed, fishing a folded paper out of his pocket.  “I was going to give this to you during dessert, but you just look so sad and… just read it.”

Yuuri read it.  And despite his efforts not to let it, his heart soared.

“So… you’re going to be working here now?” he asked.

Eyes shining, Viktor nodded.  “I will go back to Geneva tomorrow, but just for a week to finalize everything and pack more things.  And then I will come back.” He cupped Yuuri’s face in his hands. “I’ll come back to you. And to the ocean.  Is that okay with you?”

Yuuri had thought he’d known happiness before, lying in Viktor’s arms in his apartment, being bathed by the sun.  And perhaps that was. Perhaps what he felt now, kissing Viktor on the beach while the waves rolled in and their dogs ran around them, was contentment.  Maybe that was best of all.


End file.
